My father-in-law drilled this mantra into me during my early years in the insurance business: "The sale is not final until the check clears the bank." Getting paid for the insurance policies an agent sells is a crucial part of running a successful insurance agency. The way agencies have handled the payment process has not changed much over the years: Create and send an agency invoice, receive a check in the mail and deposit it in the bank. Direct bill moved some of the burdens of collecting money to the insurance company, but at the same time transferred some of our clients' loyalty from the agency to the insurer.
Today's consumers are demanding more payment options than ever before. These changing expectations of your clients require you to think about the way you receive money for the policies you sell.
According to the latest New York Federal Reserve study on non-cash payments, the use of paper checks has dropped from 37.3% of transactions in 2003 to 18.3% in 2012 (the latest year available). The use of debit and credit cards has correspondingly increased from 15.6% in 2003 to 47.0% in 2012.
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
